Ernst Friedrich (1894–1967)

War Against War! is an amazing anti-war book that was published in the aftermath of the bloodbath known to history as World War I, The Great War, and even, most improbably, "The War to End All Wars." Published with its text in four languages (originally German, French, English and Dutch, although subsequent editions would exchange Dutch for other languages), this book's strength rests almost solely on its copious photographs. While the battlefield photographs are harrowing enough, the most cringe-inducing photos are of various veterans with horrific facial and/or cranial injuries; some of these latter pictures at first appear nearly comical, as the men in them resemble various Dick Tracy villains or Basil Woolverton grotesques, but when one realizes that these are not examples of make-up effects to make Lon Chaney green with envy, one's gorge is apt to rise swiftly. The captions are almost unnecessary, as the visceral horror that they convey needs no context, no mordant set-up. The photos of the vets may well haunt your dreams; they certainly make Dalton Trumbo's classic anti-war novel johnny got his gun look like a soft-soap job.

(There are also some photos of the corpses of emaciated Armenian children, from the genocide that Turkey has yet to acknowledge happened, much less that its former regime -- the last dregs of the Ottoman Empire -- had anything whatsoever to do with.)… (more)